Tina: Can you return these books to the library for me?
蒂娜: 你可以幫我去圖書館還這些書嗎?
Larry: Sure. I'm running errands all day and the library is right down the street from the grocery store.
賴瑞: 當然可以。我今天一整天都要在外面辦事,圖書館就在雜貨店那條路上。
Tina: Great. Just remember that during library hours, you have to take the books inside.
蒂娜: 太好了。記得在圖書館開館時段,得要把書帶進去圖書館才行。
Larry: You mean I can't just leave them in the drop-off box?
賴瑞: 妳的意思是說我不能把書放在還書箱裡就好了嗎?
Tina: No. But it should only take a second.
蒂娜: 不行。不過這花不了你多少時間的啦。
Larry: All right. Where are the books?
賴瑞: 好吧。妳的書在哪?
Can you return these books to the library for me?
你可以幫我去圖書館還這些書嗎?
return在此作動詞,表「歸還」;這個字也可以當名詞,形成in return,表「作為回報」。例:Bill donated a lot of money to charity and asked nothing in return.(比爾捐了一大筆錢給慈善機構,而且不求任何回報。)
run an errand/errands
辦差事;跑腿
run an errand是指去辦差事或雜事。例如:I took this afternoon off because I had some errands to run.(我下午請假,因為要去辦點事。)
幫人去跑腿也可以用errand。例如:Linda, would you run an errand for me?(琳達,可以去幫我跑個腿嗎?)
grocery store
雜貨店
在中文裡,「雜貨店」感覺是陳設老舊的小店舖,但外國的grocery store通常擁有較大的店面,販賣的商品以食品為主,甚至還兼賣蔬菜;而groceries自然是指「食品雜貨」了。例:Jack picked up some groceries on his way home.(傑克在回家路上買了些食品雜貨。)
You mean I can’t just leave them in the drop-off box?
妳的意思是說我不能把書放在還書箱裡就好了嗎?
mean表「意思是說」,是個很好用的英文單字;像是聽不懂別人在說什麼時,就可以說:I don't know what you mean.(我不懂你的意思。)或是:What do you mean?(你這話什麼意思?)也可用來和對方確認事實,例如:You mean I should call if I know I'm going to be late?(你是說如果我知道自己會遲到,就該打電話嗎?)
明天課文
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